In their Youth
by its.all.in.the.bones266
Summary: Sure, we all know what happens in the Jeffersonian Institute of Science. But what would it be like if Booth and Brennan met in HIGH SCHOOL? Yes, It's another High School Fanfic. Please read and review, even if you hate it! Rated T, for minor swearing.
1. Chapter 1

I'm not exactly what you would call "popular".

Maybe it's because every time I'm asked if I was popular at the school in which I had last attended, I reply that popularity is merely a process with which people choose an alpha female based on dominant traits, such as beauty and leadership.

So I knew that my first day at McCleans wouldn't be any different.

I'd keep my head down, go to classes.

Fake a smile when the rest of the class laughed, remain silent when everyone else began to talk.

I was shaken out of my morose daydream by my foster mother: Laura. It was a typical name for a typical woman- golden wheat hair, brown eyes.

"How many times have I told you?" she snarled, "Don't just sit there! Start cooking breakfast!"

I leaped from the chair in which I situated myself, haphazardly grabbing a pan and beginning to fry some bacon.

My family didn't eat breakfast. Not Laura and Tom, my _real_ family- the biological parents and brother. The ones that had left me.

The lump of meat began to sizzle with a satisfying hiss, as I grabbed my tattered book bag and raced out the door.

The weather was cool, the air crisp and sun slightly faded.

I had dressed in a light grey t-shirt, and dark blue jeans. I wasn't sure what kids wore here, but down in Michigan, nobody really cared about their attire.

The anthropology had been idealistic- easy to follow. Everybody had been straightforward, at least for the most part.

By the time I reached the school, it was 6:55. I still had 35 minutes in which to scout my classes. Sure, I'd received a schedule in the mail, but Laura hadn't let me go to orientation.

I hadn't even reached the left wing when I got caught in my first confrontation.

An alpha male, clad in the typical chain male with which I associated them, stood in my path.

His shoulders were tensed in way that made me realize: he wanted to see how I reacted.

"Excuse me," I muttered feebly, attempting to push past him.

In an instant, he had thrown me to the ground, one foot on my stomach.

I winced as the hard tile pierced my shoulder blades, but didn't cry out.

If their physical orientation was more animalistic, they would have been like coyotes.

I wasn't worried though.

I twisted around upsetting him from his perch so that he stumbled backwards against the lockers, as I scrambled up.

His cry was so loud that I was surprised nobody came running-except for one boy.

He looked different than the one that had just assaulted me, with warm brown eyes and spiky black hair.

Internally, I admonished myself- after all, the eyes were not warmer than any other part of the body.

I felt my cheeks flushing red, a phenomenon that easily could be explained by the temperature. Yes, that must have been it.

"Hey, Teddy, wassup, dude?" he asked.

"This chick is psycho!" 'Teddy' shrieked, gesticulating towards me wildly, "She's psycho, Seely, I swear!"

I backed up against the wall, eyes wide with fear. If I got in trouble on the first day of school...

Laura would kill me.

The boy must have seen the fear in my eyes, because he patted my shoulder reassuringly. I flinched, anticipating a slap.

For a second, something flashed in his eyes.

Confusion?

Then again, I'd never been very good at reading people.

I stuck to the science textbooks- that was my domain.

But it was gone, as it appeared.

I wasn't one to dwell on moments- as I turned away and marched towards my first period.

_AP English _the schedule read, in pristine print.

I sighed.

My steep learning curve made it evident- I was easily ready for college English, if not university level, despite my 14 years.

But of course, there were disadvantages to being a foster child, besides the obvious loss of family.

Like for one: getting stuck in a miniscule town with only one high school.

I started towards the general direction of the freshman wing, vaguely anticipating having to ask various teachers for the position of "'s" classroom- or whatever.

Thus branding me as the new student.

To my surprise, the boy- Seely- followed me.

"New here, huh?"

I froze his slight smile with an icy glare.

"What is it to you?" I enunciated, before stomping off.

The sad thing was, he _followed_ _me_.

"'s class is in the senior wing," he uttered in surprise, glancing down at my schedule.  
So they had tried to place me in an advanced English class.

"I have her too first period. Come on."

And so I followed Seely down the hall, trying not to look as though I was actually relying on him to reach my destination.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time we had reached 's English class, the bell was ringing- in a tone that I was able to decipher as a B flat.

Her classroom was that of an average English teacher- grammar posters plastered on the walls, former projects displayed on tables.

Seely cast me an encouraging glance, his warm, brown eyes, twinkling at me profusely.

I sat down at the desk behind his, resenting how much I felt like a lost puppy.

As soon as I did, I felt a hand on my shoulder. The hand was that of a tall blond girl, whose expression was decidedly hostile.

_Alpha female tendencies_, I thought.

Before I could further analyze her anthropological stance, she spoke.

It was a whiney voice, and I could immediately tell that she was the type of girl who instantly could get what she wanted, just by flashing a smile.

"That's my seat."

"Assuming you are not assigned seats, I believe that I am at justice to take this chair and desk, using the anthropologically proved manner of claiming belongings first."

She snorted derisively.

"Nerd. Figures."

"Tessa…" Seely said softly. It may have been a reprimand, or perhaps a greeting. I could not tell.

Either way, she ignored him, and shot me what Russ called the "stink eye."

I swallowed.

Of course, it wasn't because of the expression depicted upon her face, but because of the memory that had involuntarily assaulted me.

Russ. The brother that abandoned me.

I instantly shoved the thought away, instead, gathering up my books and moving a few seats back.

Tessa smirked in pleasure.

"And stay away from him," she whispered into my ear, "He's mine."  
I've never understood the average female mind.

Out of the few friends I've had, almost every one of them has accused me of 'not being a girl', whatever that means.

Technically, my physical orientation deems me a definite female, as do my hormones.

But when it comes to girls like Tessa…I'm confused.

And so I responded with my refrain.

"I don't know what that means."

She scowled at me, and for a moment, I was certain that she was going to strike me.

But then the teacher straggled in the doorway, and Tessa dropped into her newly acclaimed seat, as I did, mine.

"We're going to pair up for projects today," dictated, scanning a list quickly, "And for the partners, we'll have Anna Atwell with Jamie Anderson, Seely Booth and Temperance Brennan,"

I jerked my head in the direction of Seely, who winked at me flirtatiously.

I stared at him stonily, resisting an urge to let a small smile creep across my lips. I'd never been one to fall for cheesy pick ups, but with Booth, apparently things were different.

There was a rush of shuffling papers, and chairs scraping against the tile as students rearranged themselves beside their partners.

I continued to sit, as Booth took action, sliding into the seat in front of me.

"Hi Brennan," he grinned lightly.

Somehow, those two words coaxed a reluctant smile onto my face.

"So, do you want to do a diorama, or maybe a reconstruction of the book? I haven't quite gotten around to finishing it yet, the teacher mailed me the book this class has been reading only yesterday, and-"

"Calm down, Bren," he smiled good naturedly, "The project isn't due for three weeks."

I inhaled sharply. Of course. Seely Booth was evidently a slacker.

"Well, I prefer to receive A's in contrast to C's, so forgive me if I strive to finish on time."

He shrugged, in substitution to the cutting retort I had expected.

"Hey, A's are overrated anyways."

I was about to respond to what I thought of that, just as the bell rang.

"Hey," he said hurriedly, "I'll talk to you during lunch, 'kay?"

I nodded once in his direction, before rushing to my next class.

_Organic Chemistry_.

Science was the closest I could get to my father. However ludicrous I knew it was, I could hear his raspy voice, dictating the periodic table of elements, or the laws of physics, every time I opened a textbook.

I could feel the warmth of my old desk lamp, see the cozy bedroom in which I had once resided.

The schools surrounding my various foster homes all had different science curriculums and texts, but science was cold hard facts: nothing could change, nor alter that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, thanks for reading! I've gotten tons of story alerts, and I'm extremely grateful to you all! Please, please review! They give me inspiration :) Or at least, they teach me how to spell Seeley Booth's name correctly.**

**P.S- what is a PM? **

The sky had morphed into a rainy overcast by the lunch time, as I noted duly.

I slowly exchanged my textbooks for a few crumpled dollar bills, (retrieved from the inside of my used locker).

Of course my foster parents hadn't bothered to supply me with a lunch nor money.

When I slammed the door shut, I found myself face to face with an Asian girl.

Her face structure suggested half Thai, and half Caucasian.

But more importantly, the expression on her face wasn't a scowl.

"Hello," I muttered politely, waiting for her to complain about how I was blocking her locker, or something else mundane.

But instead she smiled.

"Hi," she held out her hand, "I'm Angela Montenegro. But you can call me Ang."

I acknowledged this, nodding my head curtly.

It wasn't my intention to make friends at this new school: after all, it was debatable how long I would stay in this new city anyways.

It was just a matter of time before I was shifted off to the next foster home, anyways.

Or maybe, the term was shipped….

My knowledge of colloquialisms was slightly skewed.

Either way, there really wasn't much use in making friends.

But Angela was different than most teenagers- easier to talk to.

She was evidently smarter than the Neanderthals that roamed the school: notably, Seeley Booth.

He may have been a particularly fascinating Neanderthal, but a Neanderthal, none the less.

I could tell: he was one of the jocks- a football player and probably one of the most popular boys in school.

It didn't take a genius to figure that out.

His excellent symmetry would be certain to attract females, such as Tessa.

When I mentioned this to Angela, she snorted.

"Sweetie, Seeley Booth is the hottest boy in school. Girls are _all over _him."

She looked at me expectantly.

"I don't know what that means," I replied blankly.

I didn't see how his symmetry would affect his body temperature, unless she was referring to the physical exertion of football…

Angela rolled her eyes, then stopped.

"It means that you're extremely lucky to be working with him," she said kindly, "And every girl in school would give her right arm to be in your position."  
I almost laughed.  
"I still don't see what's so special about Booth," I told her, yanking my hair back into a ponytail.

I started towards the library, when Angela stopped me.

"Where you going?" she asked inquisitively.

I told her.

For a second, I thought she was going to slap me.

Then she erupted into a squeal, so shrill and loud, I was surprised the windows didn't explode, (even though it was illogical: Angela was not likely to produce such high frequencies).

My hair tumbled loosely from my grasp, and fanned over my shoulders.

"Go, go!" she ushered me hurriedly.

Laughing slightly, I started towards the library, anticipating my English project more than my looming encounter with the notorious Seeley Booth.

I raced into the library, the mahogany wood door slamming shut behind me, turning a few heads.

I wasn't embarrassed: the library was verging on empty, anyways.

Booth looked up, and smiled, a grin that I knew would crush the heart muscles of many girls.

I remained unmoved, starting towards his table.

"Hey," he said softly.

I took a deep breath, staring insistently at the nicks in the hardwood table.

"So for the project-"

He took the hint.  
"We could do- a model of the crime scene?" he suggested tentatively. I could tell instantly: academics were not his domain.

But his suggestion was a satisfactory one.

"I can do a reconstruction of the skeleton found hanging in her closet," I ordered, "And you can do the FBI crime factors."

A flicker of a smile crossed his face.

"You know, if I make it out of the army alive, I'll be an FBI special agent."

I looked up sharply.

"You're joining the army?"

Internally, I envisioned bombs, shrapnel piercing his skin, mutilating him-

"Hey," he said gently, "I'll always make it back."  
I flushed. The last thing I needed was him believing that I was a lovesick girl, waiting for him.

"You know," I told him, "FBI agents generally work with forensic scientists. And that's what I'll do later on."

When he smiled, I returned his gaze.

"Well, Bones, maybe we could work together then."

My response was adamant.

"Don't call me Bones!"

**Kay, I know that chapter was kind of short, but I promise, there's more in store! Don't forget to review, and if you have any plot wishes, just tell me in the review! **


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